David Moyes celebrated a year in charge at Preston yesterday but is believed to be anxious to receive formal permission to talk with Manchester United, where Alex Ferguson wants him as his assistant.
Preston's board recently insisted Moyes would stay as manager at Deepdale, where his contract has more than 12 months left. But with Moyes wanting at least to talk to United, who would not hesitate to pay handsome compensation, the 35-year-old Scot could become Ferguson's new number two before the weekend.
Last night United were thought to be seeking permission from Preston to make a formal approach. Although it had been presumed Ferguson would seek a high-profile replacement for Brian Kidd, who last month took charge at Blackburn, he has opted to put potential above pedigree. But Ferguson has been impressed by Moyes's quiet and studious work at Preston.
Sean Dundee is on the verge of ending his Liverpool career after playing only 18 minutes' senior football for them. The South African-born striker is considering moving to France after Strasbourg yesterday lodged and had a £1.9 million offer accepted.
It is also believed Dundee may be the subject of an offer from West Ham if the London club decide to offload their Wales striker John Hartson to Leicester or Wimbledon.
Barcelona look to have finally clinched the signature of Holland's World Cup defender Frank De Boer after a long-running transfer wrangle with the player's Dutch club Ajax.
De Boer's manager Rob Cohen said a deal had been reached for the 28-year-old to link up with the growing band of Dutchmen at the Nou Camp for a fee of around £7 million.
Celtic managing director Fergus McCann last night accused Marko Viduka's agents of staging a cynical stunt in direct contravention of club orders as the saga over the striker's move to Parkhead took another bizarre twist.
The Australian flew into London's Heathrow airport early yesterday morning, seemingly for a planned meeting with McCann to iron out the unresolved contractual details over his £3 million transfer from Croatia Zagreb.
But it now appears the player's management group, IMG, deliberately tried to get the player to join the rest of the Parkhead squad on a flight to Malaga - where the Celtic squad headed yesterday for their week-long winter break - despite the fact the club deliberately asked for him not to turn up in Spain.
Chelsea suffered a blow yesterday when they learned Uruguayan midfielder Gustavo Poyet would be out for three months following knee surgery. Poyet damaged medial ligaments following a challenge with Southampton's Moroccan forward Hassan Kachloul in the 2-0 Premiership victory at The Dell on St Stephen's Day.
Holland's former World Cup player Johan Cruyff has been named the greatest European player of the century in a poll of top European players, managers and journalists organised by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). Cruyff (51), who was too ill to accept the award won 753 votes with second-placed Franz Beckenbauer getting 709.
Sheffield Wednesday's Northern Ireland international Jim Magilton (29) has joined Ipswich on a month's loan and will make his debut in the Division One top-of-the-table clash at Sunderland on Sunday.
